So I Noticed
by thecoleaderofgroupb
Summary: She caught Minho's eye. He should have felt weird talking to his clone in girl form but some how, it just feels right… "Cute Girl" Minho talks to in the berg from The Scorch Trials was reimagined as Minho's Group B counterpart (Her name comes from the Korean independence activist named Maria Kim.) The Scorch was over but the real challenges were coming.
1. So I Noticed

It was the swish of her machete breaking the bulbs on the creature near him that made him notice her for the first time. He had been attentive in dealing with the one standing before him but the motion caught his eye. He lost sight of her when they boarded the Berg and split off for showers. As they ate, he glanced around casually, trying to pick her out of the mix of Gladers and Group B girls.

"Think we're really going some place safe?" Newt asked at the table.

Minho diverted his gaze from the dining area and stabbed at a sausage on his plate. "We'd better, but my gut's saying that these shanks could be up to something."

Newt nodded in agreement before stifling a yawn. "Good that Min," Newt said, "but if its quiet now, I think I can stand to get some bloody sleep before we get there." Before Minho could reply, Newt rose from his seat at the table and left to find space in the common room of the Berg.

Minho ate a few more bites and took a long sip of water. He slowly lifted his gaze from his plate and noticed a girl getting up from the table closest to the entry way to the common room. He put down his utensils and studied her features. Same warm tan-ish skin, same jet black hair, and shucking nice legs. Yeah, he was sure that it had to be her – the girl he saw while fighting the bulb monsters. She left the room and Minho pushed away his plate, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he stood up and headed in the same direction.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked into the common room, scanning the space for any sign of her. He saw some of the other Gladers trying to get comfortable enough to go to sleep, some of the girls from Group B already fast asleep, and Thomas sitting on a couch in the room, lost in thought. He almost thought about sitting down next to the shank he wanted to nominate as the new Keeper of the Runners but then he saw Teresa join Thomas on the couch. Yeah, no way was he going to sit anywhere near that traitor.

"Hey, you gonna sit or just stand there?" a girl's voice asked him.

Minho snapped his head around, looking for the voice.

"Yeah I'm talking to you," the voice added. "You're the one who was fighting next to me."

He looked down to his left and saw that it was the girl he had checked out during the fight with the bulb creatures. She was sitting on the ground, arms crossed over her chest, and her eyes were closed. Her dark hair was gathered in a braid that rested on her left shoulder.

"Ain't gonna stab you Stick," she added with a sigh. "My blade's gone – think those sticks manning this thing took it during shower time."

Minho scoffed as he sat down next to her. "I got these bad boys," he said as he flexed his arms. "And I'm pretty fast anyways – I was the Keeper of the Runners in my maze."

The girl pried an eye open and she smiled faintly at his comment. "Yeah? Well I was second-in-command in mine of the Runners."

"What, you're not fast enough to be the first?" Minho asked. He then wished he could kick himself for letting that come out uncensored. Smooth Min, real smooth.

The girl's eyes flew open and she narrowed them as she shot back, "Nah because Queenie Bee Harriet wanted her precious little Sonya to run the show. Psh, I swear those two should just walk the aisle already."

Minho chuckled at her last comment and ran a hand through his hair. He should have been a little weirded out by talking to his Group B equivalent but, honestly it felt…okay. So yeah, her hair was better than his, although he'd never say it out loud, her legs were really good looking for a girl runner, and he was liking what she was saying.

"So what's your name the creator shanks gave you?" Minho asked.

"Maria," the girl replied. "According to Rachel, she said they named me after some independence activist who got tortured pretty badly. What's yours?"

"Minho," he said. "Dunno who I'm named after."

"I'm gonna guess the scientist," Maria said. "Yeah nice to meet ya." She glanced over at Teresa and Thomas, shaking her head as she looked back at Minho.

"What are your thoughts on that Teresa chick?" Maria asked.

Minho twisted his mouth in a snarl and he curled his fingers into a fist. "Hate that shucking traitor," he growled. "She got Thomas worried about her shuck butt and then she turns around and is screaming at him like a crazy Crank."

"Great, glad to know that I'm not alone," Maria said. "She came waltzing in from nowhere and kicks Her Royal Highness and Loyal Servant off their high horses and says she's calling the shots from now on. Thought Harriet and Sonya lost their minds when she was bossing us around. Sometimes I just wanted to cut her pretty little mouth off and shut her up."

Minho softened his gaze as her eyes met his. His smile widened at her description and he knew that he definitely liked his counterpart more after that. Maria leaned her head against the wall and broke her gaze, turning to look straight ahead.

"Wasn't so hot about Aris either," Maria continued. "Weird little stick – scared, twitchy, and always clinging to Rachel like a lost puppy. But I gotta admit, I did feel for him when Beth killed Rachel. …For a newbie, she was pretty smart – figured how to get out of the maze thanks to her. I kicked Beth's butt for him afterwards." She looked back at Minho and frowned. "Say, did your group lose someone at the end when you escaped?"

Minho swallowed hard and nodded sharply. He looked down at his hands and replied, "A shank named Chuck. Youngest in the Glade – probably 12 or 13. Didn't have much talent but he was close with Thomas. Gally threw a knife at Thomas but Chuck took it for him. Had to pull Thomas off Gally though – he was pounding him until he was bloody."

Maria lowered her head and shook it. "Geez. This Chuck guy moved in front of Thomas?"

"Yeah."

"Wow," Maria said. "I really hate these Creators." She closed her eyes and stifled a yawn. "I'm not sure about their promises. Not sure its over yet. But I have a feeling this is the only time I'm gonna get to rest before its too late. You gonna call it quits too?"

Minho stretched his arms out and yawned loudly. Sleep was starting to get to him too and it sounded like a good idea. He leaned his head against the wall near Maria's and stretched his legs out in front of him.

"See ya later Min," Maria said.

"Later…Mari," he said before sleep consumed him.


	2. She'll Never Give In

**Title: **_She'll Never Give In_

**Plot**: Set between _The Scorch Trials_ and _The Death Cure_, Maria is subjected to WICKED's cruel methods of getting her to choose which person would be sacrificed for their research to find a cure.

**Characters**: Maria (Minho's Group B counterpart), Minho, Newt

**Rating**: R (Graphic violence and torture)

**Warning**: Story contains graphic descriptions of torture – please do **not** read if this upsets you.

* * *

Maria stared up at the ceiling as she lay on the padded patient table in the center of the room. She was grateful that she kept her watch on from the Maze but she had to keep telling herself to stop checking it religiously. _You're not running around in a changing Maze anymore, Stick_, she told herself as she counted the ceiling tiles again.

It had been days since they were picked up from the Scorch in the WICKED Berg. Minho's friend Thomas had been pulled from group once they arrived and several Sticks in white lab coats explained that Thomas was deteriorating rapidly due to the Flare and that it was too late to save him. She and Newt, Minho's other friend, had to restrain the tall, muscled Asian kid from punching the closest one between his glasses when he heard the news.

_"No use beating these Shanks up Min," Newt told him as he released his grip on Minho's shirt. "Tommy did go through Hell and back during this last trial – not surprised it got to him so quickly."_

_Minho had whirled around and tried to attack Teresa and Aris then, screaming that it was their faults that Thomas had gotten so bad so quickly. She and Newt chose to drag Minho to the other side of the room near Harriet and Sonya to avoid a fist fight. Newt privately agreed that Teresa lost his trust after her deception and Maria couldn't stop herself from hurling an insult in Aris's face._

_"Congratul-flipping-lations Stick!" Maria snarled as she got up in Aris's face before they dragged Minho away. "I'm sure Rach is real proud of what you did. At least she didn't have to watch the freak show like poor Thomas did." That comment was enough to make Aris's face freeze and Maria heard muffled sobbing as Newt dragged her and Minho away. _

_"And I thought one Minho was bad enough," Newt muttered as he dragged them away. When he hadn't been looking, Minho had nudged Maria in the arm and shot her a smile. _

A day or two later, they were all split up into their own separate rooms, all with stark white walls, no decorations, and minimal furniture. She tried the door several times but it was locked. The window was tinted but whenever she looked out into the halls, she could never make out any details, as it was always dark outside her window.

The sound of the door opening made her sit up and swing her legs to the side of the table. "Where is everyone? Are they okay? How's Jane doing?" she asked as the WICKED technicians walked in, followed by Rat Man.

"I am not privileged to give you everyone's whereabouts but rest assured, they are all safe for now Maria," Rat Man replied as he folded his hands. "It's time for Phase Three."

"Phase Three of what?" Maria asked as two technicians helped her down from the table. She wiggled free of their grasp and crossed her arms over her chest. "That Stick David told us we were done – no more trials or tricks once we were on that Berg. Or did he make that all up so we'd get on in the first place?"

Rat Man ignored her question and beckoned to the technicians to guide Maria down the hallway to another room at the end of the corridor. She craned her neck to try to see if could see anyone else she knew through one of other doors lining the hallway but the two technicians kept nudging her forward.

"Here we are," Rat Man announced as he pushed open the door. He gestured to Maria and she walked through the door, digging her nails into her palm.

"Have a seat," one of the technicians said as they gestured to the chair in the center of the room.

"Do I have to?" Maria asked as she looked around the room warily.

"I'd highly recommend you would," Rat Man replied before turning to the board in front of him. He picked up a marker and began writing names on the board.

Maria lowered herself into the chair and leaned forward to get a better look at the names being written. She saw one of the technicians sliding a metal tub of water in front of her feet from the corner of her eye and she gripped the sides of her chair tightly.

Harriet

Sonya

Jane

Minho

Aris

Teresa

Once he finished writing, Rat Man capped the marker and turned to face Maria. "As you were told when you began Phase Two, all of you were infected with a terrible disease called The Flare. We are close to discovering a cure but in order to do that, we would need one person to concoct it. We would use their internal organs and fluids to develop antibodies that would fight the body's cells infected with The Flare, thus saving the lives of many people."

"So you're gonna kill someone to save a bunch of Cranks?" Maria shot back, her eyes blazing with anger.

Rat Man shook his head and folded his hands. "My dear, this isn't just about saving Cranks or people in the pre-Crank stage – it's about saving humanity as we know it now. Yes, it will be a pity to lose one person after all of their hard work and success during the trials but it is being done for the greater good."

Maria bit her lip as she re-read the names on the board. She was surprised to see Minho and Teresa up there but she figured that one of those Sticks in the lab coats probably mentioned to Rat Man that she had to help Newt get him away from Aris and Teresa before they were separated.

"Why am I here?" Maria asked as she locked eyes with Rat Man. "Isn't it your decision which Stick gets used in the end?"

"I am asking," Rat Man began, ignoring her question, "out of all these people listed on the board, all but one will be safe from being used as our subject. Who would you sacrifice for the cure?"

Maria sat up straighter in her seat and pressed her lips together. She was tempted to say Aris or Teresa but thought better of it. She did feel a little regretful of what she said to Aris, who was still crying when they started separating the group out. Sure she was still a little upset to discover that he had been working with these Sticks at one point but really, the Stick was pretty harmless and didn't deserve to spend the rest of his life being poked and cut open for a cure.

As for Teresa, she had overheard her on the Berg talking to someone about Thomas. She had been too tired to open her eyes and see who it was, but she heard Teresa crying at one point, choking out that she didn't know what to do and that when she woke up after the Maze trials, she had been surrounded by strangers in white suits with masks. _"I hhhhhad no, no choice…they knew I could still talk to him…wanted to warn him…they said they'd make his trials worse if I tried to help…" Teresa sobbed to the other person._ While she hadn't been a fan of Teresa taking over Group B and calling the shots, she sounded sincere in her conversation on the Berg. _Yeah, none of these Sticks deserve to be a lab rat for WICKED_, she thought.

She had made up her mind when she locked eyes with Rat Man and said, "Why can't I be used?"

"While you were one of the Runners in your Maze trials, which kept you in good form, I'm afraid the other subjects I've listed on the board are a better match for what we will have to do."

Maria lifted her chin and replied, "Either you take me or none of us at all."

Suddenly, she felt two hands gripping her shoulders and shoving her headfirst into the tub of water. She barely had time to close her eyes as her face broke the surface of the cold liquid. It felt like thousands of tiny needles stinging her face with ice, which made her body shake violently at the sensation. They held her head down for a few seconds before pulling her back up to a sitting position.

She sputtered, trying to get the water out of her nose and mouth, blinking through her wet side bangs that were draped over her eyelids.

"I'm going to ask you this again," Rat Man said as he stared at Maria. "Who would you sacrifice for the cure?"

"None of them," Maria spat as she leered at him.

The technicians holding her shoulders pushed her under, this time keeping her head under the water for a few more seconds before dragging her back up.

"Maria…" Rat Man began.

"I – cough! Cough! – said none of them," Maria said in between coughs. She dug her nails into the sides of the chair as they dunked her head again, keeping her in for about 25 seconds before pulling her back up.

Maria gulped for air and she coughed, feeling a burning sensation in her nose from the water that had entered it. Her eyes felt heavy from being pulled and pushed underwater and they stung, making it difficult for her to keep her eyes open.

"That's enough," Rat Man said to the technicians. "Take her back to her room. I'm finished with her."

The technicians lifted her out of the chair and dragged her back down the hall to her room. One of them dumped her on the patient table before closing the door behind him and his colleague, locking it from the other side.

Maria coughed as she turned on her stomach, collapsing with her arms sprawled out. She hated them. Hated them even more than before. If she ever heard another Stick declare, "WICKED is good", she would seriously kick their butt and tell them otherwise.

_I hope the others didn't have to go through the Hell I've been through_, she thought before sleep claimed her.


	3. Soon it Will Be Over?

Soon It Will Be Over?

**Plot**: Maria is released from her Phase Three trials and is able to reunite with the rest of Group B and Minho. When the Creators starting announcing who was immune and who wasn't, she wasn't listening for her name – she was waiting for Jane's.

**Rating**: T

**Characters**: Maria, Jane, Julia, Helen, Harriet, Sonya, Minho, Newt

**Notes**: Maria (named after Korean activist Maria Kim), Jane (named after Jane Addams), Julia (named after famous cooking personality Julia Child), and Helen (named after Helen Keller) are my own creations. They are the counterparts of Minho, Chuck, Frypan/Siggy, and Winston in Group B.

* * *

The sound of keys being dropped on the hard linoleum floor, followed by someone cursing on the other side of her door woke her up. Maria sat up right away and swung her legs to the side of her bed as a WICKED technician entered with Rat Man. She gritted her teeth and tasted blood on her tongue when she bit it.

"Congratulations Maria," Rat Man told her as the technician closed the door behind him. "You've completed your Phase Three trials and we have the results regarding your immunity status."

"You gonna tell me about Jane or Sonya or the others while we're at this?" Maria demanded.

Rat Man held up a hand and replied, "In good time. Before we bring you and the other subjects together, I would highly suggest you shower – it's been a while and you could use it. Especially that hair of yours that you take pride in – it looks very messy and dull right now."

Maria snorted as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Well gee Stick," she began. "I woulda, except you locked me in here like a kid and only gave me a sink and toilet in this dump."

The technician opened the door and gestured down the hallway. Rat Man began to exit through the door and he paused for a moment in the doorway. "Showers are down the hall, third doorway to the left. Fiona will show the way. You have thirty minutes to clean up then she'll take you to where the other subjects have congregated."

"Can you cool it with the subjects deal?" Maria demanded as she slid off her bed. "We're people last I checked, unless you and she are some highly advanced robots.

Rat Man ignored her as he left in the other direction. Maria rolled her eyes at his back before she sauntered out of the room and followed Fiona to the shower room. Fiona pointed out the towels and clean clothes and told her that she'd be standing outside keeping the time. Maria brushed past her as she unwound her hair from the ponytail she had it in and ran a comb through it for the first time in, well, too long. She carefully combed out all the tangles in her hair before tossing her worn clothes into a pile and hitting the shower.

* * *

"Ready?" Fiona asked her after Maria emerged, her hair secured in her standard ponytail. She tugged down her dark colored shirt and bounced a little on her toes in the new sneakers they gave her. They were still a tad stiff but she'd probably break them in quickly.

"Yeah," Maria said as she shoved her hands into her pockets. She followed Fiona down the hall and turned a corner before walking through a door on the left side. Maria saw that she was back in the auditorium that they had all been taken to after the rescue and she tried to pick out the people that she knew from her group and a few from Group A. She spotted Newt talking to a tall, dark-skinned guy with a buzz cut and walked over to him, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Long time no see," he said as he gave her a worn smile. He turned to face her and crushed her in a hug, which surprised her at first. He didn't strike her as a hugging type but she realized that his worn smile meant that something had changed in him. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but there was something in his eyes that said he wasn't the same Stick she met a couple weeks ago.

"Seems like you went through a lot," she said as she returned the hug.

"You have no buggin' idea," Newt sighed as he let go. "Swear I went to bloody Hell and back during that time. They put ya through Hell too?"

"Pretty sure I romanced Death a couple times," Maria admitted as she crossed her arms over her chest. "This can't be everyone, right?"

Newt shook his head and looked around the room. "I know Harriet and Sonya were here before I arrived. Still no sign of Tommy or Min though. Right, some little Shank with blonde hair was looking for ya – about this tall, hair in plaits–"

"Ria? Ria!" a voice yelled across the room. All of a sudden, Maria felt her waist being crushed tightly and a small face pressed against her stomach.

"Oof! Jane, easy Stick – can't breathe…" Maria winced as the younger girl continued to hold her in a tight bear hug.

"I'll let you two Shanks enjoy the reunion," Newt said with a small smile before wandering off to find other people from his group. Maria watched him limp off before turning her attention back to Jane.

"How are you, runt?" she asked as she returned the hug.

"So. Happy. It's. Over," Jane said as she looked up at Maria. "How are you?"

"Glad I'm outta that room," Maria said as she let go of Jane. "You find Harri and Sony?"

"Nope, not yet," Jane said as she unwrapped her arms from around Maria's waist. "Saw Jules and Helen though. Jules is fine but Helen…"

Maria pressed her lips together as she followed Jane's finger to where the cook and Keeper of the Slicers were standing. Jules was leading Helen to a chair and Helen was staring blankly ahead, stumbling when she lost her footing.

"Careful Stick," Jules said to Helen as she sat her down. "You're good now."

"Thanks," Helen said as she pursed her lips while staring off into the distance.

Jane motioned for Maria to bend down so she could whisper in her ear. "After those weird mechanical spiders, ya know the ones that appeared in that tunnel?"

"Yeah I remember," Maria said as she recalled when they traveled under the Scorch in a dark, dimly lit tunnel for a few days.

It had been quiet and uneventful early on when they walked through the dark space but that changed when one of the Builders screamed that something was pinching her scalp very tightly. Then another Stick jumped and bumped into the other girls when one crawled up her pant leg and clamped around her leg, making her fall to the ground screaming in pain. Soon Teresa was shouting for the group to run as more of these things continued to appear, grasping onto any free limbs on passing Group B members. Two of them landed on Helen's face and she tried to swing her machete blindly at them to get them off. Sonya had knocked one off but the other found Helen's eye and tried to pry open her lid. Maria sliced at its legs, coming dangerously close to Helen's closed lid and nicking one of the folds. After running a few more feet, Teresa found a door and motioned everyone through it, slamming it shut to keep those horrible things out. Helen's eye had swollen and one of the Med-Janes had tried to bandage her up as best as possible while they pressed on. At one point after Teresa had emerged to the surface per some instruction WICKED gave her, she returned with a cloth soaked in cold water for Helen's eye, which helped to reduce the swelling temporarily.

"Helen's losing her sight," Jane said softly. "It started in the eye that the mechanical spider went after and from what I heard, that spider injected her with some kind of serum that she's reacting negatively to. It's starting to spread to her other eye."

"Hope those Sticks are real proud of what they did to her," Maria growled as she clenched her teeth. "And for what? A stupid cure? Yeah that's worth it."

Jane nodded quietly as she looked around the room before pointing to Harriet. "I see Harri!"

Maria smiled faintly as she followed Jane, who bounded over to their dreadlocked leader who flashed a rare smile at the youngest member of the group. Harriet hugged the smaller girl and she glanced over at Maria who came up behind her.

"You look like you've been through Hell," Harriet greeted her.

"Right back at ya," Maria said. She waited for Jane to let go of Harriet before giving her a quick hug. "Glad to see your face after being isolated for too long."

"Same," Harriet said as she returned the hug. She scanned the room for Sonya and bit her lip as the other leader came up behind Maria and hugged her, resting her head against Maria's back.

"Is it really you? Or am I going crazy again by staring at the walls of my room?" Sonya mumbled as she hugged Maria. Maria turned and stroked the top of Sonya's head as she returned the hug.

"It's real Stick," Maria said. "Good to see you too Blondie – don't forget your girlfriend behind me or else she'll have my hide."

Harriet smacked Maria in the back of the head at that comment and Maria winced, which made Jane giggle at the sight.

Sonya moved away from Maria and quickly hugged Jane before crushing Harriet in a tight hug. Maria rubbed the back of her head and motioned to Jane to leave them while they caught up.

"You mean k-i-s –"

"I'm gonna kill you, you little runt!" Harriet screamed at Jane as she looked up from Sonya's hug.

Jane grinned widely as she scampered away before Harriet chose to run after her. Maria rolled her eyes and allowed a grin to cross her face when she turned her back. It had been a long time since she smiled – was the last time she smiled when she met Minho on the Berg? Speaking of which, where was he?

She wandered around the auditorium when she felt a large hand with long fingers on her shoulder. She looked over to see it was Minho and she turned to face him.

"Hey…Mari," he said he moved his hand. "How are you?"

"Could be better but it's over. For now," she said as she met Minho's eyes. "They put you through some bad things too?"

"Does it show?" Minho asked.

Maria shook her head and murmured that she had a feeling that these Sticks did something to make sure that they looked fine. "I think they all did something to us – well hopefully not Janey but you can see it in their eyes."

"Janey?"

"Jane sorry," Maria said as she pointed over to Jane, who was sitting with Helen and Julia. "She's the youngest of the Group – I'd say 12 or 13 by now. Didn't have any amazing talents or anything in the Glen but she was decent to everyone, even if they weren't so nice to her back then. Rachel was real close with her."

Minho watched as Jane comforted a girl who was staring off in the distance with a pained look on her face. Harriet snuck up behind Jane and picked her up off her feet, tickling her. Jane giggled and tried to catch her breath for air as the older girl continued her tickle assault.

"Revenge for teasing her about her relationship with Sonya," Maria explained to a baffled Minho. "I know. Hard to believe that Harriet actually knows how to have fun but she's had her moments."

"She's like Chuck," Minho said in a low voice as he watched Jane catch her breath after Harriet put her down.

Maria turned to look at Minho and nodded. "I have a feeling they were matched on purpose at some point before we all got thrown into those Mazes. She was the recent Stick they sent up prior to Rachel. Chuck came before Thomas?"

Minho nodded and he lifted his head at the sound of Frypan welcoming someone to the room. He craned his neck and saw it was Thomas, alive and well. "Sorry," he apologized as he excused himself to go greet Thomas.

Maria shrugged and nudged him towards Thomas with a small smile. She watched as he loudly greeted Thomas and sighed before joining Helen, Julia, and Jane near the front of the auditorium.

"Is that Ria?" Helen asked loudly when Maria sat down.

"No it's the Easter Bunny – yeah it's me Stick," Maria said as she took a seat next to Jane.

"Ha! That stupid thing wouldn't last a minute with me around!" Helen chortled as she slapped the arm rests. "Good to see you still have your sense of humor Ria."

"Thanks," Maria said as she looked over at Helen. "How ya feeling Hells Bells?"

Helen shrugged before turning her head in the direction of Maria's voice. Maria kept her face devoid of emotion but inside she felt like crying and screaming when she saw Helen's face. There were scars around her eyes, some from the spiders and others from various machete blades trying to get those things off her face. Her left iris was blocked by an opaque white circle and the right one had a slightly hazy look to it.

"They did this to me," Helen said as she pointed to her eyes. "They said those spiders were designed to test our reflexes and see how we adapt. Ha! Adapt? That's a freaking stupid lie to cover for the truth – they wanted to knock some of us off!"

"Calm down Stick," Julia ordered her as she put a hand on her arm. She waited until Helen settled back into her seat before addressing Maria. "Wish I had a watch when we were isolated – couldn't tell whether time passed or whether it stopped completely. Nearly went stir-crazy – think I started reciting recipes to keep me sane!"

"Figures Jules," Maria chuckled as she shook her head. "Even when we're locked up, you always go back to food. Surprised you haven't gained a ton from all the cooking you do."

Julia glared at her and swatted Maria on the arm. "Just remember who kept you full for the daily runs into the Maze Stick," she warned as she turned her gaze back to the front.

"Yeah most of it was good, I guess," Jane teased.

Julia snapped her head to the side and she narrowed her eyes at Jane. "I swear you've gotten worse ever since you started sticking with Maria more – you used to never complain about my cooking."

"I'm just kidding Jules!" Jane said as she held her hands up. "Cool it, okay?"

Julia shook her head and allowed a smile to come across her face before she turned her attention to Rat Man who appeared before the group, trying to get everyone's attention.

Maria rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. What did he want?

She watched as some of the Group A members yelled things at him and others threatened him with death. She didn't blame them – they all thought they were safe once they left the Scorch but instead, WICKED lied to them again, as usual. Once Rat Man got through his pathetic explanation of why Phase Three took place, he announced that he had the results of who was immune to The Flare and who was not.

"The following individuals ARE NOT immune," Rat Man announced as he read off a list. "Newt."

Maria held her breath at that first name. She turned her head towards Thomas and Minho who were also expressing surprise and horror when they heard their blonde friend's name called. She jerked her head back to the front as Rat Man read off another name, this time from Group B. Maria didn't know this girl but she saw a group of girls comforting another one who had fallen to her knees and had begun wailing loudly.

"Helen," Rat Man announced before reading off another name from Group A.

Julia froze in her seat and started to get up when Helen grabbed her wrist and yanked her down. "Don't bother Jules."

"Did you hear what he just read–"

"I'm blind, not deaf Stick!" Helen snarled at Julia as she released her grip on Julia's wrist. "I heard him crystal clear – I'm gonna die a madwoman! Whoopee!"

Maria opened her mouth to say something but quickly forgot what she was going to say when she heard the next name.

"Jane," Rat Man said before reading one final Group A name off his list.

Maria was on her feet in seconds and she clenched her fists. "There's gotta be a typo on your list – check it again," she said to Rat Man.

Rat Man looked up from reading the list and skimmed the list again. "No Maria, I'm afraid Jane is not immune, according to my list. Her Phase Three trials revealed that she had not exhibited signs of succumbing to The Flare as quickly as the average subject–"

"There you go again with the subjects! They're people – individuals!" Maria snapped as she took a step towards him.

"As I was saying," Rat Man continued, ignoring her outburst, "while Jane had not exhibited early symptoms of The Flare affecting her like the average subject, we found that she did not display signs that she was immune like you or the others of your group. It is a pity, given that she is one of the youngest in these trials, but there is little we can do until we find a cure."

"You keep saying that but I–"

"Ria, it's fine," Jane said as she caught Maria's hand. Maria turned towards Jane and shook her head no.

"Janey listen to me," Maria said, trying to keep her voice steady. "I made a promise Rach back there – you remember that?"

"She said try to keep me safe," Jane said.

"No, she said 'Get her home safely. Do whatever it takes.' There was never any 'try' in there Janey – I have to get you home safely," Maria said as she looked her in the eyes.

"Where's home?" Jane asked. She looked at Maria with a hollow look in her eyes and continued, "I doubt I have a family to go home to, if everyone's sick with this disease."

"Janey, just, just stop," Maria ordered her. "I'm gonna get you home and I'll figure out some way to get a cure or something, okay? Just stop talking like this – it's not like you."

Jane opened her mouth to speak but closed it when Sonya came over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Ria's right," Sonya said. "We all promised Rachel we'd get you outta this mess and find your home. Can't give up just 'cause some of us are immune and others need a cure. We're gonna figure this out, all right?"

Jane closed her mouth and nodded. Sonya smiled faintly at Maria before squeezing Jane's shoulder and rejoining Harriet in the middle of the room. Maria took Jane's hand and squeezed.

"I promise we'll get through this," she said as she looked the youngest Group B member in the eye. "You can count on that."


	4. When You're Gone, I'll Try to Move On

When You're Gone, I'll Try to Move On

**Plot**: Maria catches up with Minho in Paradise after a long day of work and they talk about what happened in Phase Three and the struggles leading up to the escape to Paradise.

**Rating**: T+ (graphic descriptions of death and violence)

**Characters**: Maria, Minho

**Notes**: Maria (named after Korean activist Maria Kim), Jane (named after Jane Addams), Helen (named after Helen Keller), and Julia (named after the famous cooking personality Julia Child) are my own creations. They are the counterparts of Minho, Chuck, Winston, and Frypan/Siggy in Group B.

* * *

"Ugh," Minho groaned as he flopped himself down on the beach and shielded his eyes with his arm. Every part of his body was aching from all of the running to grab materials for the structures Gally was building and he wasn't sure he'd be able to hold his machete properly for tomorrow's work. He probably should have gone to find Clint to make sure that his soreness wasn't anything too serious but he didn't feel like getting up for a while.

"Remember when it was just waking up, running a pattern in a Maze, and coming back to map out your findings?" a voice asked him.

Minho uncovered his eyes and tilted his head back against the sand to see it was Maria from Group B standing there.

"Hey Mari," he said as he moved his arm away. He patted the sand next to him and invited her to take a seat.

"Thanks," she said as she dusted off her cargo pants. "Tough day?"

"Not bad but just tiring," Minho sighed as he stretched his arms out. "Yeah, sometimes I kinda wish it was as simple as running a Maze again. Does that sound weird?"

"Nah – to be honest, it was familiar," she admitted as she stretched her legs out in front of her. "Terrifying if you're worried about the Grievers coming for ya but familiar and…normal, I guess you could say." She picked up a rock and threw it as far as she could, watching the rock skim across the surface before sinking to the bottom of the water's surface. "So…what did those Sticks do to you during Phase Three? Or is that too sensitive to ask?"

Minho winced as he pushed himself to a sitting position as he recalled the moments during Phase Three. He folded his hands in his lap and stared out, watching the water roll in onto the shore.

"Rat Man took me to a room," he said. "He wrote some names on a board, including Aris's name and asked who I would spare from testing for their cure. I said all of them." He paused and licked his lips as he brought a knee up to rest his elbow on before continuing. "Then this shuckfaced WICKED person punches me. They ask the same shucking question, I gave the same answer. Got beaten to a pulp until all of a sudden, Rat Man says we're done. Then I'm back in my room."

"Sounds like we went through similar tests," Maria murmured as she wrapped her arms around her knees.

Minho's back straightened at those words and his eyes flashed as he turned towards Maria to get a better look at her. He squinted to see if he saw any signs of scarring or bruising that could have been WICKED's doing. "Those shuckfaces punched you? I swear if I ever saw them again, I will–"

"Cool it Stick!" Maria said to him as she shot him a look. "They didn't punch me until I was bloody – no what they did was…worse, if you can believe it." She chewed on her bottom lip before meeting Minho's fiery eyes. "They shoved my head underwater and held it there for a few seconds before pulling me out. Except they asked me if I would sacrifice one person for the cure, who would it be? They put your name and Teresa's name up on the board along with the other sticks I cared about."

Minho punched the sand in frustration and Maria made a face as she looked around the beach. "I think it's 'cause you and I were hanging with each other on the Berg and before they separated us out. Teresa, well its 'cause she was put with all of us in the Scorch." She frowned as she looked back at Minho. "Hey, did she even make it? I ask because it's been a blur since we got here and I can't remember if I saw her or not."

Minho bit his lip and sighed as he kneaded his hands. "Got crushed by a boulder as we were running for the Trans Flat. Right in front of Thomas. I hate her for betraying Thomas the way she did, but…she did push him outta the way and took the fall for him. I give her some credit for that – guess she was trying to make up for her betrayal in a way."

Maria lowered her head and shook it. "Well she wasn't a favorite in the group for calling the shots but I'll give her credit that she tried to help us get through the underground tunnels somewhat intact. We got attacked by these weird spider robots and lost a lot of people in there. Helen got hurt – when you saw her at the WICKED labs after Phase Three, she was starting to go blind. Those spiders injected something near her eyes and she started having trouble seeing in one eye then the other. During the Scorch Trials, Teresa brought back a cold compress for Helen's eye after she had to do some task that WICKED wanted her to do. She didn't have to help her but, she did so…"

Maria picked up another rock and threw it so it skidded across the smooth surface of the water. Minho mimicked her movements as he threw his own rock and sighed when it sank after it skidded twice across the surface.

"Newt? Jane?" they asked at the same time.

Minho shook his head and prompted Maria to go first. Normally she would have bantered that he should stop trying to act like a freakin' proper gentleman and just go first, but she bit her tongue and cast her eyes down at the ground. Minho watched her fiddle with a shell that was nearby and waited.

"Jane…didn't make it," Maria said. "After we escaped the labs, Helen took a turn for the worse. She was really upset about losing her sight and not being immune…I think that fear and anger helped accelerate her condition from normal being to Crank. There's a point where she almost choked Jules to death and Harriet had to make the hard choice to kill Helen right there on the Berg. Trust me, you don't wanna know what happened – I still get chills whenever I think about it."

"Got it," Minho said as he pulled his other knee up.

"Helen's death scared Janey," Maria continued. She swallowed a large lump that had formed when she mentioned Helen and continued, keeping her gaze focused on a seaweed-covered boulder several feet away in the water. "At the lab, she didn't seem to show any signs of deteriorating other than forgetting a few details about past events."

"Are those shuckfaces sure that she wasn't immune?" Minho interrupted with a skeptical look on his face.

"That's what we wondered too," Maria said as she met Minho's eyes. She returned her gaze to the boulder as she skipped another rock. "But after Helen's outburst and death, she got hysterical and started begging Harriet to just kill her now before she got as bad as Helen. Teresa managed to find some medicine on the Berg that would calm her down and she was out for a couple of days. It must have been a heavy dose because she was out cold for a long time. I was scared that whatever Teresa gave her killed her but then she came to about three or four days later." She searched for another rock to skip and when she couldn't find one, she settled on the shell she spotted earlier. She picked it up and ran her fingers across the grooves on the exterior.

"I saw that what we gave her made her act off," Maria continued. "Her eyes looked hazy, her speech wasn't super clear…almost like she was in a trance of some kind. Teresa then remembered that WICKED mentioned something in her memories called The Bliss, which slows down the progression of The Flare but it doesn't cure it. She sorta stayed that way for a while before it wore off and she was back to being hysterical again. Harriet tried giving her more of the stuff but…"

"But?"

Maria sniffled as she wiped away a few tears. She licked her lips before saying, "She gave her…too much…by accident of course. Jane calmed down but about ten minutes later, color drained out of her face and she sank to the floor. Writhed for a few moments and cried out in pain. Jules tried to hold her down and during one her thrashing fits, Jane moved her head too quickly and…"

"Sorry," Minho whispered as he saw the scene play out in his head. "Then?"

"We buried her at night after we landed," Maria replied. "Teresa and Harriet were able to distract some of the guards at the airport while some of us carried Jane to an area and buried her." She sniffled and dug her fingers into her palm. "I had one job – get Janey home to her parents, if they were still alive, and help her have a normal life."

"What do you mean?" Minho asked as he gave her a puzzled look.

Maria turned and looked at him. "Sorry I forgot that you never knew her – Rachel, I guess she was like Thomas? She came up in The Box before Aris did. I used to run with her in the Maze – she slipped right between the Maze walls to save me and Sony, who was unconscious thanks to a Griever –"

"Playing dead?"

"Yeah but how did you know?" Maria asked with a confused look on her face.

Minho shrugged and shook his head with a grim smile. "Same shucking thing happened to me – found what I thought was a dead Griever and I took Alby, he was our leader, into the Maze to check it out. Alby got stung and Thomas squeezed through the Doors to help us. Somehow he managed to trick a Griever into rolling over the cliff further into the Maze. …Just one question though, why did Sonya go with you and not Harriet?"

Maria made a face as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Well 'cause…Harriet had some terrible thing happen to her when she first came up and it involves the Maze in some way – she wouldn't tell anyone what happened though. Sonya used to be a Runner too but after the Council discussed it, everyone thought that I was faster than her, so the job of Keeper went to me. She didn't mind really – I kinda got the feeling that she was relieved to get a break from venturing in. She was the only one willing to check the Griever with me so yeah…" Tears pooled in her eyes again and she glared down at the shoreline as she continued.

"Thought we were finally gonna stop being someone else's lab rats," Maria said. "But then Beth appears in front of us and something's really wrong with her – it was in her eyes, something was off. Mind you, we were all shocked to see her alive since she was the first one the Grievers took when the Doors didn't close one night."

"Same thing with us," Minho growled as he thought back to Gally being under WICKED's control. "Shank named Gally got controlled by those shuckfaces and –"

"Killed someone against their will?" Maria finished as her tear soaked eyes met his. "Yeah, Beth pulled out a curved blade, threw it, and it landed in Rachel's chest. Aris held her and tried to stop the flow of blood but it hit her heart – there was nothing we could do. Sony had to pull me off Beth after I nearly broke her nose. Last thing Rachel said to me was to get Jane home – in any way possible. Said look for her parents if they were still alive. Then…she was…gone."

Both of them fell silent for a moment and Maria wiped away the rest of the tears, rolling her shoulders a few times before focusing on the boulder again. Minho rubbed the back of his neck as he remembered something.

"Saw one of those shanks on the Bliss when I was in the city with Thomas and Brenda," Minho murmured as he thought back to the dazed figure that was captured for his impaired state of mind.

Maria snapped her head towards Minho and she pressed her lips together in a taut line. "Now there's someone I'm not happy about making it," she said with a hateful glimmer in her eyes. "Look, I'm sorry if she's your friend Min, but that Stick put me through a lot of hell before I was sent into my Maze. She initiated my Swipe procedure after I asked to not undergo it and I felt like there was something off about her before they knocked me out. Like I knew her somehow and didn't get along with her at some point but I hadn't really talked to her at all on the Berg."

"What did you remember?" Minho asked as he cast a sideways glance at her. "And for the record, Brenda's not someone I'd consider a shank but she was tolerable versus Teresa the traitor. Girl's always really…touchy feely with Thomas whenever he's around."

"You jealous?" Maria asked softly.

Minho furrowed his brow and snapped his head towards her. "What?"

Maria rolled her eyes and told him to forget it. She took the shell in her hands and chucked it as far as she could as she continued, "When we were like, I don't know, 15 or 16 I guess, I remembered running into her when Sonya and I decided to skip out on one of our tests 'cause we were getting sick of doing them. Sonya ran smack into Brenda and she tried to make us go back and do the tests. I sassed her and all of sudden, this WICKED technician comes over and throws Sony over his shoulder and carries her away, screaming and thrashing. It was horrible and I remember the look she gave me before threatening to test some miracle drug on me that wasn't fully approved if I didn't cooperate and get back to my test. After that incident, I saw Sony another time in passing and she had some nasty bruises on her arms and neck."

"You really think that Brenda–"

"No she didn't make those bruises – the other tech did," Maria said. "But I'm sure that she asked him to punish Sony for her disobedience since she wasn't as rebellious as me. They were able to control her a little more easily than me. Probably why her tattoo reads 'The Survivor' as her title."

Minho opened and closed his mouth as he tried to process everything that Maria had told him.

"The rest of the tests were really hard after that – she probably told the Creators to make them harder so I would fail but somehow I didn't," Maria said. She licked her lips and added, "I remember thinking that the only good thing about having my memories wiped would be forgetting everything about her."

"Was she–"

"Nah she was long gone when I came to – probably safer for her own good 'cause I woulda rung my hands around her neck after I remembered everything that happened to me," Maria replied. She glanced over at Minho and scrunched her knees to her chest. "So, Newt didn't make it?"

Minho shook his head no and he bit his tongue, tears pooling near his lower lids. "We took him with us to the city and left him in the Berg," he said. "We came back and he was gone – left a note saying the guards at the airport searched the Berg, found him, and took him to the Crank Palace. He asked us to not go after him but Thomas and I pushed for it. Nearly got ourselves killed there with all of the whackos there in various stages of crazy. At one point, he had a gun in his hands and pointed it at us."

"He what?!"

"He wasn't thinking it through," Minho said. "He wasn't as deranged as the others but he was yelling a lot and spit was flying out of his mouth. He seemed really ticked at Thomas for some reason and yelled at us to leave now. Wouldn't even listen to us reason with him why he had to come with us, maybe see if there was even a shot that a cure could save him, if there was one." Minho cursed under his breath and punched the sand as the tears ran down his face. He kept his eyes on the ground as the tears flowed freely and he sniffled, gasping for air as he cried. He saw something flutter in front of his eyes and he tore his gaze from the ground to see that Maria was offering him a square of fabric.

"It's clean – used to keep one in my backpack when I ran the Maze," she explained.

Minho yanked the square from her hands and blew his nose into it loudly. Maria returned her gaze back to the horizon and she nudged another shell by her boot. She didn't want to draw too much attention to Minho's breakdown, especially since she sensed that he wasn't the type to share this type of emotion publicly. After a few moments, Minho straightened up and crumpled the square up, stuffing it into his pocket.

"Thanks Mari," he said as he looked at her. "Sorry about looking like teat-sucking baby just now. Shuck, why did I just say something that Newt would say?" He slammed his fist hard into the ground and cursed under his breath.

Maria nudged him and looked at him. "Ya know ya don't need to apologize for any of this," she said with a quiet look. "Think of Newt's phrases as a little memento or something that always makes you think of him when things were good. Let's face it – WICKED screwed us all up but now, they're all probably dead or will be dead soon while we get to start over, in a sense. It hurts and I wish we coulda all been immune and made it through this, but for now, we gotta try to fix society so it doesn't end up so messed up. Okay?"

Minho nodded and Maria shot him a small smile. She stood up and dusted herself off before helping Minho up with a grunt. "Let's head back before they start some crazy search party or something for us, okay?"

"Good that."


End file.
